


I Know You

by dww0717



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Feels, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Frustration, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, My First Work in This Fandom, Romance, Slow Build, Swearing, Twins, Unrequited Love, Wonjae is The Twin, Wonwoo Has A Twin, meanie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-23 09:28:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23309350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dww0717/pseuds/dww0717
Summary: Wonwoo and Wonjae are twins, however while they're physically identical on the outside, their personalities are completely different. Growing up, the twins have shared and experienced most moments together, but they've never been in love. What would happen if that time came, if the twins finally fell in love, if they finally found that special someone who makes their heart skip a beat. What if that special someone was the same person?Enter Kim Mingyu, the handsome new guy, who catches the Jeon twins' attention.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. The Twins.

Wonwoo is younger than Wonjae by three minutes, a fact that Wonjae takes pride in, as he believes it makes him the wiser of the two. The twins live with both of their parents who love all three of the Jeon siblings equally. Wonwoo and Wonjae have an older sister, Seulgi, who is in university, she is studying medicine and has been for two years. Seulgi is studying abroad in America due to the training program she was accepted into. The twins love their sister and are very close to her, so the first couple of months without her were very difficult for them. While both twins are close to their sister, they are not close to one another. Their clashing personalities make it difficult for the brothers to get along. 

  
  


While Jeon Wonjae is a confident and social butterfly that could have many friends if he wanted to; Wonwoo is the complete opposite. Jeon Wonwoo is the typical dork, he is shy, insecure and due to his lack of socialism only has a few close friends. Both of them excel academically, always occupying the top two ranks in their class with Wonwoo coming in first and Wonjae in second. Unlike Wonwoo who sometimes makes his insecurities known, Wonjae refuses to show any sign of weakness by bottling up all his emotions. So as one can infer, his personality is not the best, making him quite impertinent. Wonjae's biggest insecurity is Wonwoo. More specifically anything that involves even a modicum of Wonwoo's "the perfect son," greatness, Wonjae's envy towards his brother to grow. Everything comes naturally to Wonwoo academics, their parent's love, affection, attention and (although he's unsocial) friends. The thing Wonjae hates the most about his perfect twin is the bond Wonwoo has with his best friends because no matter how hard he tries it's never easy for him to trust. With Wonwoo, Wonjae faces a love-hate dilemma. 

  
  


Wonjae loves Wonwoo, they're brothers, twins after all, but all the pent up envy and anger causes him to loathe his brother. In his eyes, Wonwoo has and receives everything that he works so hard to get, but without the minimum amount of effort. On the other hand, Wonwoo also envies his older twin, but not to the point of hate. Wonwoo just wishes he had his brother's confidence and eloquence when speaking or being social. He's tired of being an awkward, nerdy, clumsy mess. The twins only share a few personality traits―although for the most part if someone were to ask those boys are complete opposites. There are more differences than similarities between the twins. They share the same face, height and have similar bodies, both being quite thin. A stoic look adorns their face making them seem cold, sometimes rude; while that is true for Wonjae, it's definitely not for Wonwoo as he is one of the dorkiest, nicest and sweetest guys one could meet. 

  
  


Wonwoo loves eating cheeseburgers, reading, playing video games, going to school, volunteering in animal shelters and occasionally feeding stray alley cats. He spends most of his time in the library, sometimes spending the whole day during weekends. Wonjae hates all the things that Wonwoo loves and spends his time doing a variety of things―he does just about anything to become better than his younger twin. He yearns for things to naturally come to him. Every morning and every night before bed he repeats the same mantra, "I won't be like him, I'll be better, I am better." If all his efforts against his brother don't pay off (which happens more often than not) he curses Wonwoo for being a nuisance and being a waste of space. Wonjae ends up telling himself that Wonwoo is the reason why his life is miserable, why he has no happiness.

  
  


... 

  
  


The people who are close to the twins or at least acquainted with them are able to tell them apart outside of school at first glance due to their personal styles, otherwise good luck. Wonwoo is laid back, he dresses casually, never wearing anything more extravagant than a simple t-shirt; hoodie if it's cold, skinny jeans; and his trusty black and white converse. Ever heard of dress to impress? Well, that's exactly the motto Wonjae goes by. His wardrobe consists of suits, nice dress shirts, and shoes, ties and blazers. Although they have opposite styles, the twins always look handsome in whatever they wear. 

  
  


At school, every student knows who's who, unless they're new to the school. Since they wear the same uniform, the only thing that distinguishes the twins from each other at school is that one wears glasses while the other doesn't. Glasses, both twins need them since they have horrible vision, but one refuses to wear them. Wonwoo prefers his beautiful round gold-rimmed glasses over contacts because they're less bothersome. Wonjae however, prefers contacts saying that glasses make people look nerdy, awkward and unattractive. He says that the day he's seen with glasses will be the day he officially loses his mind. Gorgeous twin plus glasses equals Wonwoo; gorgeous twin minus glasses equals Wonjae. Pretty simple.

  
  


In school, the twins are popular for their handsome and sharp looks. Both girls and guys label them as the "hottest guys in school." Wonwoo doesn't care for popularity, but Wonjae does, feeding off of the attention which adds to his ego. The only time the twins are seen together during school is when they arrive at school and after school. After they get out of the car they go their separate ways and are seen together again when they head home, but aside from those two occasions Wonwoo and Wonjae are rarely seen together at school. 

  
  


Wonwoo has few friends, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Vernon they're all close to one another and consider themselves each other's brothers. Soonyoung and Jihoon are the same age as and also in their fourth and final year at Pledis Academy, like Wonwoo. Wonwoo, Soonyoung, and Jihoon have been friends since the three of them were twelve years old. Vernon has only known the guys for two years. He moved to Korea with his family and continued his education there, now being in his second year at Pledis Academy. Although he has not known the guys as long as the other three have known each other, the guys treat him as if they've known him their whole life―making him feel welcomed and safe.

Soonyoung is a ball of sunshine, he has a bright personality, is always smiling and can never seem to stop talking; he's the biggest joy of the group. Jihoon is the shortest in the group, and although he looks like the youngest he's the most mature and protective. He also keeps the group grounded, not afraid to scold his friends when they do something stupid. He's also not afraid to stand up to anyone (even if they're twice his size) who threatens his friends or the bond they have. Vernon or the baby as the other sees him is the full package, he is very smart and the perfect mix of his "older bros" as he calls them. He's energetic like Soonyoung, protective like Jihoon and as awkward as Wonwoo all which makes him one of the sweetest guys out there.

  
  


Wonjae however, doesn't consider anyone as his "friend,” just acquaintances he says. However, there's Jun, who he's able to tolerate just fine and if Wonjae had to absolutely, by force or by no other option, call someone his "friend," Jun would be that someone. Unable to actually believe it―he trusts Jun he's not quite sure why, but he does. Jun is a nice guy who always tries to see the good in people. That's why he puts up with Wonjae. Jun knows that deep down Wonjae isn't as bad as others think. Jun knows Wonjae probably better than Wonjae knows himself. Wonjae is too dumb to actually appreciate Jun because he's extremely occupied with the process of being better than his twin. Jun is aware of all the things Wonjae does to sabotage his Wonwoo but keeps quiet because he feels like he has no right to intervene. Jun realizes what Wonjae doesn’t. Jun noticed how negatively Wonjae is affecting not only Wonwoo's life, but his also. Jun knows Wonjae has done things such as ruining Wonwoo's homework, spreading rumors about him, and using Wonwoo's identity to get him in trouble or make him look bad in front of others. He knows he offers Wonwoo a shoulder to cry on unashamed of what he's done. Such as the time he purposely left Wonwoo's favorite books out in the rain, only to tell him he didn't mean to and meaninglessly apologized. Wonwoo was devastated, he considers his books as prized possessions, especially the books that were ruined because they were a gift from their sister.

  
  


... 

  
  


The Twins: WxW 5 Years Old. 

"Nonu! No! These are mine, you can't have them." Wonjae yelled.

"Mommy said we have to share toys!" Wonwoo said, his voice quivering and with watery eyes.

The Twins: WxW 12 Years Old.

"Mom, we have like a million bedrooms, so why do I have to share a room with Won? I hate it. He's annoying. He wears my clothes and uses my things without asking." Wonjae said as he glared at Won.

"I'm annoying!? Oh please look who's talking Mr. Tattle tale and Mr. Hogger. You complain about everything and tell mom everything too. Also, how can you say I take all your things if you hide everything from me!" Wonwoo shot back angrily.

"Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion."

"How about you shut up Jae. Mom, I agree with Jae though, please let us have our own bedroom, please."

"Boys, you share a bedroom because I want your brother's bond to be strong. Don't complain, you guys have shared everything since you were babies!" Mrs. Jeon said.

Both boys looked at her with an expression of sadness and anger mixed together, they wanted to be treated as separate individuals. Mrs. Jeon couldn't take their hurt expressions any longer and finally gave in. 

"Fine, Wonwoo, this weekend you'll move out of the bedroom and you'll both have your own bedroom. I'll tell your father when he gets back so he can help you move your stuff."

"Thank you!" both boys said simultaneously as they both ran to hug their mom.

The Twins: WxW 16 Years Old. 

Seulgi last week with her family before she goes to university in the States. 

"Won! How fucking dare you! She leaves this weekend to the States, she won't be able to see it because you just had to have her all for yourself!" Wonjae said furiously to Wonwoo

"What's your problem?"

"You're my problem! You know about my art exhibition at the gallery, you know how important that is for me, how much I want Seulgi to come! I invited her, but she said she's going to your stupid photography exhibition, which happens to be the same night as mine!"

"Whoa! Calm down. First of all, I've been planning my exhibition for months! I told her about it when I started to work on it, you told her about it three days ago, Jae. This is not my fault."

The twins glared at each other for what seemed an eternity. Wonjae broke eye contact when she turned around and stormed out of Wonwoo's room, slamming the door harshly. This had been their biggest fight, both not speaking a word to each other for about a month.

  
  


...

  
  


The Twins: WxW 18 Years Old. 

Final year at Pledis Academy. 

The Jeon twins have been together all their lives, have experienced growth and illness together, shared everything together from parents, a sister, toys, clothes, classes, friends, stories, each other's identity, and video games. To sum it up, they've shared anything that can or can't be thought of. Not once, however, have they experienced being in love, not once have they talked about being in love, not once have they talked about a special someone to one another. But what would happen if that time came, if the twins finally fell in love, if they finally found that special someone who makes their heart skip a beat. What if that special someone was the same person?


	2. Kim Mingyu.

Kim Mingyu, the tall and handsome Kim Mingyu. Kim Mingyu, the one boys and girls loved and love to hate. Mingyu is a sweet, kind guy or as others say "a boy with a heart of gold.” With his cute puppy-like looks and personality, Mingyu is able to charm anyone from young to old. He's been living in his precious town all his life, the town and the people being all he knows and feels safe with.

  
  


Mingyu loves everything about his town. He wouldn't trade his life there for anything, (or so he thinks). His hometown has everything Mingyu could ever want or need. There he has: 1. His family, 2. His best friends Minghao and Seungkwan, and 3. His lovely SVT High School. At his current school, Mingyu, Minghao, and Seungkwan are who everyone talks about, whether they're liked or not. Minghao is in the same year as Mingyu while Seungkwan is a year younger. The three boys are inseparable, they're always together, known as a powerful trio. All three are handsome and have great personalities. 

  
  


Mingyu is an only child. Although he likes being an only child, he sometimes feels lonely. Sure, he has his friends and family, but he yearns for a feeling he can't describe. He knows the feeling isn't like the feeling he has towards his family and friends, it's something stronger than he needs to experience on his own, but he can't seem to figure out what it is. One day, while at the movie theater with Minghao and Seungkwan, a kissing scene between the protagonists takes place. Mingyu's mind begins to fill with questions. What is it like to kiss someone? Do I want that? Why Haven't I kissed anyone before? Is that what you do only when you're in love? What's it like to be in love? Is there someone for everyone, for me? Will I ever fall in love? While deep in his thoughts Mingyu fails to notice that the movie has ended. That night he goes home with a word he's never pondered on before, love.

  
  


… 

  
  


Being an only child has its privileges. Since he was young Mingyu always got what he wanted, within reason. He did not, however, take advantage of his parent's generosity. Instead, Mingyu was and is still today responsible, sensible and very mature for his age. However, there comes a time when everyone reaches their limit, when people lose their temper and rationality if the right fuel is used to ignite. For Mingyu this time comes sooner rather than later and he's just not having it.

  
  


Mingyu's life was what he called, perfect. He was happy... until his parents announced to him that they were moving to Seoul. Sweet Mingyu was quickly replaced by an angry Mingyu. Mingyu is happy living in that little town. He knows everyone in town and everyone in town knows him. The town is where his friends, family, and favorite places are. His parents, however, felt that their son needed to experience a different environment and meet new people, so he wouldn't be secluded and subjected to a single place. 

  
  


… 

  
  


To say that his first days in the city were hectic, would not come close to how they really were. Mingyu felt like a foreigner, not knowing where he was and getting lost multiple times. He also got many stares from people left and right which only confirmed to him that he, in fact, did not belong there. On their first day in the city, his parents told him he'd be attending Pledis High School, the most prestigious high school in Seoul. Mingyu's family was well off in terms of wealth, but they chose to live humbly, trading luxuries for humility. However, Mr. and Mrs. Kim cared far too much about Mingyu's education, so when it came to it they weren't shy with their money. To adapt to the city, their whole lifestyle was changed significantly. They went from living in a simple family house to an amazing penthouse with commodities all around. Mingyu, of course, loathed all of this, his new school, his new home, overall, the idea of starting over. 

  
  


" 'Pledis High Academy, we're not just a school, we are a place of learning, a great place to be, and a place of comfort. At Pledi-' blah blah blah blah blah... yeah yeah yeah." Mingyu read out loud as he researched his new school. "I haven't even been and this place already sounds snobby." He scoffed as he closed his laptop. It was Saturday and since he had absolutely nothing to do, he tried to familiarize himself with the place he'd so ungracefully spend his last year of high school at. The more he searched though, the more he dreaded for Monday to come.  _ My last year. _ He thought.  _ MY LAST YEAR! And I have to spend it in this STUPID city, in a STUPID school where I know no one and have no one! _ After his mini-rant, Mingyu groaned as he dramatically collapsed on his bed. Minutes later, he fell asleep.

  
  


Sunday came and Mingyu was completely, utterly, wholeheartedly, and extremely devastated. In less than 24 hours Mingyu would have to start, as dramatically he put it, "all over again!" which would inevitably "destroy" his life. He told his parents that he'd be better off homeschooled, but that didn't pan out. His parents strongly encouraged and wanted him to step out of his comfort zone and socialize with new people. 

  
  


After dinner, Mingyu went up to his room, called his best friends Seungkwan and Minghao and complained to them about his horrible situation. Not having his best friends around and not being able to see them every day resulted in a very angry, but at the same time, melancholic Mingyu. After he ended their group call, Mingyu played some video games until he couldn't keep his eyes open. He went to bed with the reality of a new chapter in his life sinking in.

  
  


… 

  
  
  


"MOM!, where's my uniform?" Mingyu yells as he comes out of the shower.

  
  


"Honey, I left it on your bed!" Mrs. Kim answered.

  
  


Mingyu looked at the uniform and though it was nice, better than the one at his old school. The Pledis uniform was sophisticated yet fashionable, Mingyu approved. As he put on his blazer with the school logo embroidered on it, he looked at himself in the mirror. "With nothing to look forward to, this year will be crap." Mingyu muttered to himself. However, big surprises awaited Mingyu at Pledis High Academy, surprises that would change his mind about having "nothing to look forward to."

  
  


When he finishes his breakfast, Mingyu gets in his car and drives to his new school unwillingly. As he drives and listens to music, he comes to the conclusion that he'd try to make it a good year. After all, it was his last year of high school, he wanted it to be memorable. 

  
  


"Pledis High Academy, here I come."


	3. First and Last.

_ "Congratulations to Jeon Wonwoo as he is the lucky winner! He will be receiving 5 books of his choice each week for the rest of his life!" said the host of the game show.  _

_ Wonwoo walked to the center of the stage with the brightest smile he'd ever given plastered on his face. He was going to receive his certificate and began his acceptance speech. _

_ "Thank you for the opportunity to participate. I am beyond happy to be the lucky winner! Reading is a great passion of mine, I have read many books, and can't wait to choose many mo-"  _

  
  


"OW! What the—" 

  
  


"Wake up Loser or we're going to be late for school!" Wonjae says to Wonwoo after hitting him with a pillow to wake him up.

  
  


"Dude chill, I set up an alarm last night for 6:30am. I would have woken up to it." His voice was deeper than usual as he had just woken up.

  
  


"Look at the clock, Loser. You're lucky I was kind enough to wake you up." 

  
  


7:10am

  
  


"SHIT! Okay, I'm up, I'm up." Wonwoo says as he hurriedly gets up and makes his way to the bathroom, almost tripping on the sheets that fell to his feet.

  
  


"Wonwoo I'm leaving at 7:40," Wonjae stated. "You know I hate being late so you better be ready by then or I'm leaving without you!" He finalized as he slammed the door shut.

  
  


"Don't worry, I'll be ready." Wonjae heard Wonwoo yell from the other side of the door. 

_ What sinister thing could I have possibly committed to end up with that idiot as my brother, even worse, my twin? _ Wonjae thinks as he rolls his eyes and makes his way downstairs

  
  


… 

  
  


It was identical twins, Jeon Wonwoo and Jeon Wonjae's first day and last year of high school. Wonjae didn’t want to start the year being late. After yelling at the younger of the two, Wonjae sat himself down at the kitchen counter and ate the breakfast their mother had prepared. 

  
  


"Wonjae, honey where's Wonwoo? He won't have time for breakfast if he doesn't come down soon." Mrs. Jeon asked.

  
  


"He's getting ready, the Loser slept through his alarm. If he's not down by the time I told him I'm leaving."

  
  


"Jae! I told you to stop addressing your brother as 'loser.’ It's not nice. Also if you leave without him, driving privileges will go to him."

  
  


"MOM!" says an annoyed Wonjae. "That's not fair, Won is always up late playing his stupid video games! It's his fault that he wakes up late!"

  
  


"I'm ready!" Wonwoo yells as he hurriedly runs down the stairs. "Also my video games aren't stupid! They're actually very educational, I learn tons from them. Plus, they help with my concentration skills." 

  
  


"Shut up loser." 

  
  


Wonjae takes a looks at the clock. 7:38 am.  _ We have to go, _ he thinks, grabs his backpack and makes his way out the door, but not before yelling at Wonwoo that he's leaving with or without him. 

  
  


"Jae, wait up." Wonwoo says as he hears the front door closing. "Bye Mom, see you after school. Love you."

  
  


"Wonwoo you didn't even eat breakfast, that's not what we agreed on. You said you'd work on eating more young man." 

  
  


"Sorry Mom, I'll get something at school, I promise. Bye now because Jae will leave without me."

  
  


"Finally some peace." Mrs. Jeon says as she lets out a sigh of relief. However, she speaks too soon because she sees the front door open again and sees Wonwoo peeking his head in.

  
  


"Mom, we should really talk about getting a car for myself because Jae is a pain in the ass! Think about it, love you!" 

  
  


… 

  
  


"Well, fuck me."

  
  


"Who would want to?!" Wonjae mockingly says then chuckles. 

  
  


"You know, every time you insult my looks you insult yourself too, we look exactly the same, genius."

  
  


"Whatever. What are you complaining about now, Loser?" Wonjae asks with a sigh.

  
  


"I left my glasses in my room."

  
  


"Sucks to suck, Loser."

  
  


"Let's go back, you know how bad my vision is, I won't be able to see anything in class!"

  
  


"No way! I told you to carry your contacts with you in case you didn't have your glasses. I'm not going back, I won't be late because of you."

  
  


"I hate wearing contacts, they irritate my eyes, please let's go back, we won't be late."

  
  


"Wonwoo, for the last time, no. You'll be fine without your glasses for today. You'll survive."

  
  


"Fine, you meanie." With that, their bickering ends (for now).

  
  


Because there’s a sudden silence in the car, to break it, Wonwoo turns the radio on. When it comes to music and Wonjae he should know better than to combine the two. Wonwoo nows how much the older hates music, especially in the morning. 

  
  


"Hey! Won— ow!" Wonwoo slaps Wonjae’s hand away when he tries to turn off the radio. "Turn it off you brat; you know I hate listening to music in the morning."

  
  


"First of all, I am no brat. Second,  _ you _ know I hate  _ not _ listening to music in the morning or throughout the day. Third, shut up and let me listen. It's only fair since you appointed yourself as the one and only driver who, may I add, is terrible because you are an idiot who won't turn back so I can get my glasses!" Wonwoo says angrily and quite loudly as he accusingly points at his brother. Wonwoo's sudden outburst leaves Wonjae speechless. "Plus school is only a ten-minute ride, and as you told me, you'll survive." This time Wonwoo speaks in a calm and collected manner.

  
  


… 

  
  


When they arrive at school and get out of the car, all eyes are on them, the presence of hottest guys in school is known. The twins are about to start their last year of high school.

  
  


"Finally our last year." Wonjae says.

  
  


"Yeah, our last year in Pledis High Academy. Let's hope for a great year." Wonwoo adds. 

  
  


The only time the twins are seen together is when they come out of their car, but since they're now at school the rare sight comes to an end. The twins go their separate ways. Since there's time to spare before the bell rings, Wonwoo heads to the cafeteria to get food and find his friends. Wonjae heads to his classroom, wanting to be the first one in class. He wants to choose the best seat. This year at Pledis High Academy will be one to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i decided to change the times when i'll update. i will be updating every day or every two days. 
> 
> pls comment what you think.  
> tell me if you like the story so far so i can confidently play updates:)
> 
> thank you for reading reading!


	4. The New Kid.

When Mingyu arrived at Pledis High Academy, he got out of his car and scanned the campus.  _ It's nice. _ He thought. The campus was huge, like a university campus. There were different types of plants. There were flowers and bushes and many trees. The building itself was stunning. It was old fashioned yet contemporary at the same time. The nature and the calm aspect of the school reminded him of home, it made Mingyu feel nostalgic but comfortable. Since Mingyu could see himself enjoying his time at Pledis, he decided to stop complaining about it and give it a try. Pledis Academy was very different from his small high school back home, but he had to admit, it was absolutely stunning. 

  
  


Mingyu checked the time on his phone. 7:15am. He had 15 minutes until his tour of Pledis High Academy started—plenty of time to explore a bit by himself. Mingyu only explored the outside of the school, the courtyards, the sports fields and the outside of the gym, which looked huge to him even though he hadn't gone in. All in all, Migyu was very impressed. He noticed there were few students on campus,  _ it must be too early he thought. _ However, those few students all contributed to the few stares Migyu received. He was unfamiliar to them—they were unfamiliar to him. He hated being the center of attention, being stared at. Back at his old high school, he and his friends were often the center of attention. He hated it. But at that moment, he hated the attention because he also hated being the new kid.

  
  


Since the gym had irked his interest he decided to go in. He was making his way up the steps when he remembers his tour. His fifteen minutes had turned into thirty when he checked his phone.

  
  


"Great, I'm late." Mingyu takes out the school map he had been given, pinpoints where he's at, then where the main office is and next thing he knows his feet are moving, running as if his life depended on it.

  
  


When he makes it to the front doors of the main office, Mingyu catches his breath, calms down, and fixes his appearance, given that it was ruined due to the marathon he had just run. 

  
  


"Hello ma'am, good morning." Mingyu said shyly.

  
  


"Good morning young man, how may I help you?" Answered Ms. Kang, the school secretary. 

  
  


"I'm Kim Mingyu, I'm a new student. I was told to come to the office to meet with another student, he's supposed to show me around."

  
  


"Oh! Mingyu! Yes, the principal told me about you. Do you know the name of the student?"

  
  


"Um... not really, I forgot."

  
  


"Okay, well let me go—"

  
  


"Oh wait! I think his last name is Joon or Jone?" Mingyu said after interrupting.

  
  


"Jeon?" Said, secretary Kang. 

  
  


"Yeah! Jeon, Jeon something." Mingyu replied. 

  
  


"Oh well I don't know which of the Jeons is supposed to come, but I'll go ask Principal Choi."

  
  


Thank you." Mingyu said. He then went to the waiting area and sat down and well, he waited.

  
  


... 

  
  


"Dude look, look at m—Won cheer up." Soonyoung said as he made funny faces at Wonwoo, as an attempt to make him smile.

  
  


"I can't, I—he was very rude."

  
  


"He's always rude though." Jihoon added

  
  


"That's true he always is. What'd he do?" Soonyoung asked.

  
  


"I know, but today he was more than usual. He wouldn't turn back, he knows how much I need my glasses! I'm pretty much blind without them." Wonwoo complained.

  
  


"Don't worry too much Won, it's the first day of school, we won't do much. If you need help, Jihoon, Vernon and I will be your eyes." 

"Thanks Soon. Speaking of Vernon, where is he?"

  
  


"I don't know—Ji do you?" 

  
  


"Oh yeah, he went to the main office, he wants to change one of his classes." 

  
  


"Oh no! I gotta go guys." Wonwoo exclaimed as he gathered his things. When the main office was mentioned, he remembered about the new student. 

  
  


"Why?" Jihoon and Soonyoung said simultaneously.

  
  


"The new student!" Wonwoo yelled as he ran to the main office.

  
  


"What does Won have to do with the new student?" Jihoon asked.

  
  


"Oh yeah! Won's is giving him a tour of the school, or he had to... like half an hour ago." Soonyoung replied.

  
  


... 

  
  


It was almost 8:00am classes were about to start and Principal Choi still had Mingyu waiting. Mingyu was losing patience. He got up from his seat and made his way to secretary Kang's desk, but she was busy with a student, Mingyu guessed.

  
  


"If you want a change to be made on your schedule you'll have to come in tomorrow because Mr. Yoon is not here today."

  
  


"Can I see counselor Hong then?"

  
  


"Vernon, you know the rules, your counselor is Mr. Yoon, he's the only one that can make changes on your schedule."

  
  


"But I was scheduled for economics as my first class, I already took that last year."

  
  


"As I said already, Mr. Yoon is not here so please come back tomorr—"

  
  


"Ms. Kang, where is the student Kim Mingyu?" Principal Choi asked.

  
  


Both Ms. Kang and Vernon turn their heads in the direction the sudden voice came from.

  
  


"Principal Choi! He's in the waiting area." She got nervous when she didn't see Mingyu seated anymore. "Umm... he was just there a moment ago, I promise."

  
  


Principal Choi's face goes from stoic to full of worry.

  
  


"How could you lose a student, a new student for that matter! You've been here for five years, this kind of negligence should not come from you. Find him at once."

  
  


"Y—yes sir." Secretary Kang said getting up from her chair.

  
  


"I'm right here." 

  
  


Principal Choi, Ms. Kang and a startled Vernon turned around. Mingyu had been behind Vernon all along, but no one noticed due to the commotion caused by Principal Choi.

  
  


Principal Choi apologized to Mingyu for having to witness such an act. Mingyu told him that he didn't mind and not to worry. 

  
  


Vernon was brought back into the picture when the Principal asked, “Vernon, where is Won? He’s supposed to give Mingyu a tour.” Principal Choi Seungcheol knew the twins well and he knew their friends well. He's known them since they were kids and treated them as if they were his children, so he addressed them a bit more informally—either as Won or Jae. Vernon said he hadn't seen him, that he had come straight to the office as soon as he got to school.

  
  


"Mingyu, sorry for the inconvenience, I don't know where Won—I mean student Jeon is. I would show you around myself, but I have a meeting to attend and Ms. Kang has her secretarial duties to take care of."

  
  


Mingyu sighed, he had run, messed up his appearance and waited for ages for nothing, for the guy that was supposed to show up, not show up. _Wow, and I thought I was late._ _Whoever that Jeon guy is, I don't like him._ Mingyu thinks.

  
  


"Hi, I'm Vernon." said a cheery voice that brought Mingyu out of his thoughts. 

  
  


"Oh umm hi, I'm Mingyu, Kim Mingyu."

  
  


Vernon extended out his hand and Mingyu shook it. "Nice to meet you Mingyu, sorry to cut our meeting short, but I should make my way to class, maybe I'll see you around."

  
  


"Nice to meet you too, see ya."

  
  


Vernon waved goodbye and was about to leave when He's called back by Principal Choi. He asked Vernon if he could show Mingyu around. Mingyu hoped Vernon would say yes, he seemed like a nice guy. Vernon was about to decline. A tour meant a lot of walking, he wasn't ready for that.

  
  


"I would, but honestly I don't have enough energy to walk around the  _ whole _ school."

  
  


Principal Choi had the authority to make the students do what he wanted, however, when it came to Won and Jae and their respective friends, he couldn't find a way to say no to them—it was wrong, but he was a bit biased... just a bit. To get them to do what he wanted, he had to offer them something they wanted.

  
  


"I'll help with whatever you came here for and I'll excuse you from class,"

  
  


"Nah, I'll come back tomorrow." He said with a smirk, he knew he could get more from the situation.

  
  


I can't believe this kid! Principal Choi thought. "All day, I meant to say I'll excuse you all day, from all your classes."

  
  


"Okay! Come on Mingyu buddy, let's go. We'll start with the cafeteria—a bonus is that it’s open all day! Plus they always have iced cinnamon rolls on the first day." Vernon said as he linked his arm with Mingyu's and led him out.

  
  


... 

  
  


"I'm—I'm here, whe—where's the new student?" Wonwoo said as he tried to catch his breath.

  
  


"With Vernon. He kindly agreed to show him around when Principal Choi asked him after you stood him up." Ms.Kang playfully. "Also Principal Choi is mad at you."

  
  


"Lies. First of all, Vernon wouldn't  _ kindly _ agree to something Choi wants. There's something in it for him right? Second, you, Ms. Kang, know better than anyone that Choi can't stay mad at me." Wonwoo said with a childish smile. "I was hoping he'd still be here and by he I mean the new student. I don't want to go to class,” Wonwoo sighs. “How annoying."

  
  


" _ You're _ annoying, now go to your class, kid. You're not needed anymore. I’ll excuse your tardy."

  
  


"Fine. I'm really sorry though, for forgetting about today." Wonwoo said. He was out the door, but very much like this morning with his mom, he peeked his head through the door and startled his favorite secretary when he yelled, "Have a nice day, Ms. Kang!"

  
  


Ms. Kang shook her head as she smiled widely. Wonwoo, Wonjae, and their friends, especially Wonwoo's, were a handful. Wonjae not too much since Ms. Kang assums Wonjae has no friends—but without their shenanigans, work would be boring. After being startled by Wonwoo, she immediately went back to work.

  
  


Wonwoo walked slowly back to class, he felt bad for forgetting about the new student. He wanted to apologize, no, he was going to apologize. His mission for the next day was to find out the new student's name, go up to him and apologize, and invite him to join his group. His friends and he would have a new friend. It was the perfect plan, what could possibly go wrong?   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Jerk.

Vernon had shown Mingyu almost all of Pledis Academy, and as he had imagined, the school was impressive. They were at the baseball field. Mingyu had already seen all the sports fields, but he didn't know how to tell Vernon since he was ecstatic to show him. Mingyu had asked Vernon to take him inside the gym. He had been interested in it since he laid eyes on it—and boy was he impressed. The gym was stocked with the best training equipment he's ever seen and some workout machines he never has seen. The gym had three floors, the top being his favorite because of the Olympic-size pool that was there. After leaving the gym, they made their way to the main building to show Mingyu where his classrooms were and to finish off the rest of the tour. 

Throughout the time he spent with Vernon, Mingyu got to know him a bit better. He learned that it was Vernon's second year at Pledis Academy, that he used to live in the States, and that he has three best friends, which he'd introduce Mingyu to later. Mingyu also asked about the strange way he treated the Principal, but Vernon explained that that was how their relationship worked, Principal Choi was more their friend than just their Principal. “He’s like a cool dad.” Vernon says. Mingyu thinks that is unfair to the other students, but then he found himself thinking he'd benefit from it if he stuck with Vernon and his friends.

Once in the building, Vernon showed Mingyu the Fourth Year's hall and the section where his locker was and where classrooms were. The lockers were separated by odd and even numbers, the odds being on one side of the hall and the evens on the other. 

"Here it is, #13, you're right next to Soon and Won. This is Soon's," Vernon pointed at locker #15 "and this is Won's." he said as he pointed at #17. "Our other friend Ji has an even number his locker is #18, right across from Won." 

Mingyu just nodded in response.

"Once you meet them they can help you with getting to know this hall better. They're Fourth Years, they know this hall better than I do. I'm in the Second Year hall which is in the underclassmen building across from this building. This is the upperclassmen building for Third and Fourth Years, but I'm here more than at my own, but I don't really know my way around it."

"Okay, thanks anyway for showing me around..." Mingyu says, a bit agitated. "I—I know you said you don't know this hall well, but maybe you know where I could find a bathroom nearby, I really have to pee." 

"Geez Mingyu, why didn't you say anything?! It's almost the end of the day!" Vernon was about to continue scolding Mingyu, but he took quick notice of the state Mingyu was in and pulled out his phone. 

—

"Hey Ji—yeah, yeah I'm in school. Ji, listen I'll tell you everything later, I'm in your hall right now and I need to know where the bathrooms are. I'm by your locker. Ji! I'll explain later, now tell me where! Thank you." Vernon hung up. 

—

"Go to the end of the corridor, take a left and you'll see a sign placed on the left wall."

"Thanks!" Mingyu said as he ran.

"I'll wait for you here." Vernon responded.

... 

Meanwhile, Wonwoo and Soonyoung were in the last class of the day, history. They were taking notes—well, Wonwoo was, Soonyoung was taking a nap.

"Hey Soon wake up," Wonwoo whispered. "Wake up." He said a little louder as he also shook Soonyoung.

Soonyoung whined and started rubbing his eyes. "What do you want Won? I was having such a nice dream. I was in a dancing competition, they were about to announce the winner, which I'm pretty sure was m—"

“Soon, shut up. I have to go to the restroom so please continue to take notes for me, I'll buy you lunch tomorrow if you do."

"Okay, deal, but don't take too long I don't know if I can stay awake."

"Thank you, I'll be right back."

... 

Wonwoo had made it to the bathroom before Mingyu and he was on his way out. He was about to open the door when all of a sudden the door opened and he's pushed back into the wall. Next thing he knows, he's on the floor.

"Oh no! Dude I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were behind the door, I was in a hurry, I'm really clumsy, and sorry for rambling. Here," he offered his hand, "Let me help you up."

Wonwoo takes the guy's hand and stands up, finally putting a face to who had shoved the door in his face. Both of them look at each other, and time stops, they freeze. Wonwoo and Mingyu stand still, neither of them breaking eye contact. 

_ Wow, He's cute. _ They both think.  _ And tall.  _ Wonwoo adds.

They were brought back from their thoughts when they heard a toilet being flushed. A guy comes out, he washes his hands and stares at Wonwoo and Mingyu. Mingyu has no idea who the guy is, but Wonwoo does. He sees him often with Jae, his name is Jun. They both blush when they notice they are still holding hands. And that's why Jun was staring, because what is Wonwoo doing holding a stranger’s hand—they immediately let go. 

"Umm, sorry again, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You're fine, I mean it's—it's fine. I'm okay, don't worry." Wonwoo stuttered out.  _ Cute _ . Mingyu thinks. "L—like you said you didn't know I was behind th—the door, so it's not your fault." Wonwoo says with a smile. At that moment Mingyu swears that guy’s smile is the most beautiful smile he's ever seen.

Mingyu then remembers why he was in a rush, he has to pee—badly. However, he didn't want to seem rude and just leave the handsome guy, he wanted to make sure he was truly fine because he did fall pretty hard. Wonwoo notices Mingyu's problem. The stranger slightly pressed his legs together and judging from the area where his hands were placed, it was pretty obvious he had to use the restroom. "Well, umm I have to go back to class, I've been out longer than I should." Wonwoo says as he opens the door.

Before Mingyu could ask the guy for his name, said guy is already halfway out the door. Mingyu mutters a quiet bye, thinking it went unheard. Then in typical Jeon Wonwoo fashion, he peeks his head through the door, "Bye." he says and he can’t help but give the cute tall guy a smile. Mingyu couldn't help but smile back.

  
  


After taking care of his urgency and coming out of the stall Mingyu notices there is a phone on the floor by the door. Mingyu picks it up, guessing it was the cute guy's phone. He would ask Vernon if he knew the name of the stranger.

...

"Where are you going?"

"To the restroom, do you really have to ask, do you not see my coffee-soaked uniform? Do you want to tag along or something?"

"No, just curious, don't have to get so defensive. I saw Wonwoo— Also, since school is almost over I won't wait for you, I'll just head home."

"Jun, I don't care if you saw Wonwoo." Wonjae interrupts. 

“Okay, then. By the way, I won’t wait for you to come back. School is almost over, I’ll just head home.”

“I don’t care, do whatever you want.”

"Bye Jae." Jun says, but as always, he doesn’t get a reply.

Wonjae makes his way to the restroom, he’s not in the best mood. His day hadn't been the best. First, he was almost late because of Wonwoo. Second, he hated everyone in his first class, they were all obnoxious. Third, Jun had given him another talk about morals and how he should appreciate Wonwoo more.  _ Who does this guy think he is?  _ Wonaje thought during the talk. Fourth and final, a clumsy girl, who wasn't paying attention to where she was going, bumped into him and spilled her iced coffee all over him. So now he was on his way to the restroom to try and clean up his blazer the best he could.

Before he had time to open the door someone bumped into him, not again Wonaje thought and sighed.

"I'm so—oh! It's you again I thought you had to go back to class." Mingyu smiled widely.

Wonjae took a look at Mingyu,  _ hot, who is he? _ he thinks, but Wonjae is taken aback by what Mingyu said. Had he seen him before? "What are you talking about?" Wonaje asked.

"Uh, we talked, not even two minutes ago. Again sorry."

_ So he met Wonwoo, time for some fun. _ "Don't apologize, I won't forgive you. If you paid better attention you wouldn't have to apologize, you're pathetic. Get out of my way."

"But you said it was fine." Mingyu says as he clears the way. He’s confused. Wonjae looks at him with a scowl, he wanted to have fun, but now he is getting annoyed, he just wants to clean himself up. Wonjae ignores Mingyu and goes straight to the sink. "Hey I'm being nice here, I even picked up your phone." Mingyu said frustrated, so much for thinking he's cute, what a jerk.

Wonjae finally turns to Mingyu and sees he has his hand extended, trying to give the phone back,  _ Wonwoo's _ phone. "I don't take things from strangers, especially someone as cretinous as you. Maybe if you thought before you acted you would have avoided this. I've already had a horrible day, and you just made it worse." Wonjae said bitterly. Mingyu was speechless, he couldn't believe that the cute shy guy he met minutes ago could be like this. 

"Fine, have it your way, I won't give you your phone back until you apologize." He was able to say firmly, he didn't know how he managed to stay composed and not punch the guy’s smirk off of his face.

"Guess I'll never get it back then." Wonjae replied as he exited the restroom. 

"If you come back begging for it back I won't give in, you've been warned." Mingyu said not very intimidatingly m. However, it was loud enough for Wonjae to hear. Mingyu was standing out in the corridor expecting a reaction. Wonjae, however, didn't even turn around he just kept walking away.

"Asshole" Mingyu muttered.

"That was fun." Wonjae said to himself as he laughed, suddenly his day and mood became a little better. 

... 

Wonwoo made it back to class with a nameless cute tall guy on his mind. He's never seen him at Pledis, he knew everyone in the upperclassmen hall, maybe a new student he thought. Wonwoo then realized that he must be the new student and he mentally cursed at himself. If he hadn't forgotten, he would've been the one to show him around and had a proper introduction. Wonwoo took a seat as he made a mental note to ask Vernon about the new student later.

"Dude what happened to 'I'll be right back?'" Soonyoung asked.

"Something came up." Wonwoo answered.

"Tell me!" Soonyoung said in a loud whisper and shoved Wonwoo playfully.

"Ow! Stop my arm hurts."

"What, why? What happened?"

"I'll tell you after school," Wonwoo said as he looked at Soonyoung, but he was met with a skeptical look. Wonwoo stuck out his pinky and said: "I promise," they intertwined pinkies, "Now give me my notes and go back to sleep." 

...

"Dude is everything alright? You took long, you said you only had to pee—unless you had to go number—" Mingyu glares at Vernon and he doesn’t let him finish his sentence. Mingyu wasn't mad at him; Vernon had nothing to do with his problem, he was mad at the jerk he had spoken to. But because Vernon was right there, Mingyu let out a bit of his frustration on him. "You know what, that's none of my business, I'll shut up now." Vernon brought his hand up acting like he had just locked his lips and thrown away the key.

"Just finish showing me my classes so I can leave." Mingyu said. 

Vernon nodded and led the way.

... 

Tomorrow Mingyu will finally join his classes. He hoped he wouldn't have to see, speak, or even be within five meters of  _ that _ guy, whoever he may be. Mingyu wouldn't let a stuck up rich kid get to him. He wouldn’t act as that guy did, Mingyu is better than that... or so he thought. By the time he got home, he forgot about his plan. Once home, Mingyu began brainstorming different things he could do to get that guy back. 

_ Water balloons? _ "Nah, too messy."

_ Bugs in his locker? _ "Yes! Wait nevermind, I don't know where his locker is."

Itching powder, tripping him in the hall, ruining his uniform, etc... the list went on. But all ideas were shot down when he remembered he had the guy's phone. The phone acted as leverage. Not giving it back was a way to get that guy back. But Mingyu decided to stay true to what he said, he wouldn't give it back unless he got an apology.

... 

"MOM! Have you seen my phone? Did I leave it here?" Wonwoo yelled as he looked through his things for his phone.

Mrs. Jeon came into his room and frowned at the mess her son had made. "No honey I haven't, you took it with you. You texted me this morning asking if I could drop off your glasses at school." 

"I think I lost it then, also why didn't you bring me my glasses?"

"Too busy. I had meetings all day, honey. Now, if you don't need me anymore, then I'm going to rest for a bit." Mrs. Jeon said to Wonwoo. He only nodded.

For the thousandth time, Wonwoo checked his uniform and backpack, but like the previous nine hundred ninety-ninth times, it was not there. Wonwoo groaned in frustration.

"What's up with you?" Wonjae asked. He was headed to his room, but he was curious as to why his loser of a brother was being loud.

"I can't find my phone, have you perhaps… seen it?" Wonwoo asked hopefully.

"Wow, you really are a loser. But no, I haven't seen it. Maybe you left in one of your classes or you dropped it." Wonjae had to suppress the smirk that was threatening to show on his face. Wonaje then went back to his room.

Wonwoo thought, he thought hard.  _ The restroom! The cute guy! _ "Maybe I dropped it when I fell and he found it!" Wonwoo said to himself. Wonwoo put his search party to rest and hoped that the cute guy had his phone. Wonwoo couldn't wait for school the next day, he wanted to see him again. Because of his missing phone, Wonwoo had an excuse to talk to the cute guy. 

  
  
  



	6. I Don’t Believe You.

If it wasn’t obvious by now, Wonwoo is gay. He had come to terms with his sexuality at the age of twelve. However, he didn’t tell his parents until he was fifteen. To say that his parents were surprised would be correct. Wonwoo was the quietest twin, a bit more reserved. When he told his parents and sister, they weren’t surprised by the fact their son was gay—but with the fact that he,  _ willingly _ , chose to tell them. Nevertheless, both Mr. and Mrs. Jeon and Seulgi were very supportive. 

Telling Wonjae seemed infinity times more difficult. When he did, however, the response he got was something he never, in a million years, would have expected.

**Wonwoo & Wonjae: 15 years old.**

The day Wonwoo came out to his family, Wonjae was in his art class and didn’t get home until after dinner. Wonwoo wanted to tell his brother, but he was afraid he wouldn’t be supportive like the rest of his family. When it came to his twin, Wonwoo felt more self-conscious, more insecure. 

Wonwoo was standing in front of Wonjae’s bedroom. His knuckles ghosting over the door, unsure if he should knock.  _ Should I tell him? What if he isn’t supportive? What if he hates me more than he does already? What if he’s disgusted by me? What if he stops talking to me?  _ Wonwoo was lost in thought, ”what if” questions filling his mind.

“So are you just gonna stand there all night, or what?” Wonjae said. Startled, Wonwoo turned around at the sudden voice. Wonwoo just stood there, not knowing what to say. “Won, if you’re just going to stand there, that’s fine by me, but move out the way so I can go into my room.”

“Sorry, go ahead,” Wonjae went in his room, but before he could close the door Wonwoo spoke up. “Jae, can I talk to you? I won’t take a lot of your time, promise.”

“Fine, come in.” Wonjae said as he sighs. 

When Wonwoo stepped into Wonjae’s room, he felt weird. He hadn’t been in there since he was twelve, back then when he moved out.

“I already told our parents and Seulgi this, now I’m gonna tell you. Don’t think I left you out, it’s just that you were at your art class and it all just kind of happened and—“ Wonwoo said hurriedly, almost as if he was rapping. 

“Won, if you really don’t want to take up a lot of my time, just get straight to the point.”

“Right, okay, yeah. So like I said I already told the others,”  _ Here goes nothing,  _ Wonwoo thought. “Jae, I’m gay.”

“Okay.”

Silence… 

“‘Okay’? That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Yeah, what else do you want me to say? Congratulations?”

“You’re okay with it? You’re not going to judge me?”

“The only thing I’d judge you for is for how much of a loser you are. Besides if I were to judge you, it would be pretty hypocritical of me.”

“Why, what do you mean?”

Wonwoo was expecting Wonjae to be disgusted, to think the absolute worst of him, and to be judgemental. He, however, did not expect what his brother said, nor could he have ever imagined the following words ever coming out of his brother’s mouth. 

“Because I’m not straight either. Won, I’m bi.” Wonwoo froze. “If that’s all you had to say, then get out of my room.”

Wonwoo went back to his room and laid down on his bed completely speechless. 

… 

Unlike the day before, Wonwoo woke up before his alarm. He was excited, he had an excuse to talk to “cute guy.” After freshening up and quickly getting dressed, he went down to the kitchen for breakfast. 

When he walked in, three pairs of eyes turned to face him. Mr. Jeon was the most surprised of the three since he rarely saw Wonwoo in the morning. Wonwoo would always sleep in.

“Someone’s up early.” Mrs. Jeon said.

“Yeah umm, I felt bad. Like really, really bad about almost making Jae late yesterday, so I decided to be a nice brother and wake up early.”

“ _ You?  _ A good brother? You’re lying, you’d never give up sleep, just to be ‘a good brother.’ Something’s up.”

_ What do I say? I can’t tell I want to see a guy I met, a guy who is still a complete stranger. Jae will tease me, dad won’t care and my mom will start planning my wedding.  _ Wonwoo thought.

“See, he’s not answering, he’s trying to come up with an excuse.” Wonjae pointed out.

“Nothing is up, I just want to get to school early to look for my phone. Maybe someone turned it into the office. I want to stop by before a plethora of students shows up to complain about their schedules.” Wonwoo manages to say, which sounded convincing since he had, in fact, lost his phone. 

“You lost your phone!?” Both Jeon parents said at the same time. 

“Yes, but don’t worry, I think I know where it is, so if I’m right, I’ll have it back today.”

“Make sure you get it back Son, no one should have access to anything that has private information about our family, especially one of my children.” Mr. Jeon said in a serious tone.

“Don’t worry Dad, I’ll get it back in no time… Jae let’s go, let’s not waste any more time, you heard Dad I have to get my phone back.” Wonwoo ran up to where Wonjae was sitting and practically dragged him out of the house. The twins got in the car and drove off to school.

Once in the car, Wonjae couldn’t stop thinking about the guy he encountered in the restroom. Was he the reason Wonwoo was excited? Did they have something going on? How exactly did they meet? After all, even though he didn’t know them, the guy had thought he had met Wonwoo and that Wonwoo was also the guy he met the second time. However, after the way he treated the other, Wonjae knew that “hot guy” (that was the nickname he gave him) hated Wonwoo or who he thought was Wonwoo. Wonjae then decided that a guy he barely even knew didn’t deserve his curiosity, he had better things to focus on. However, if his suspicions were right about Wonwoo wanting to see “hot guy,” or Mingyu, then seeing them interact would be something he wouldn’t want to miss.

… 

When the twins arrived at school, they did as they always did, they went their separate ways. Wonjae headed to the art studio where he often met Jun. Wonwoo went a completely different direction, to Diamond. Diamond was what Pledis students called their all-student section. From an aerial view, the student section looked like the shape of a diamond, hence the name. This student section was where all students could hang out regardless of the year they were in. It was located between the upperclassmen and underclassmen buildings. There was an indoor student lounge where students could relax and an outdoor lounge where students could just sit and talk with their friends. There was also a gym, where all basketball games and other school events took place. The most popular building of Diamond was the library and cafe combo called Hangout. It was a three-story building, The quiet section of the library, where students could study in silence was on the third floor; the regular section of the library, where students could speak freely was on the second floor; and the cafe on the first floor; all the students loved it.

Wonwoo and his friends always met at the outdoor lounge. When he got there, he saw Vernon and Jihoon. Soonyoung was almost, if not always, late. As soon as he saw Vernon he smiled, he wanted to ask him about the new student, what his name was and what his classes were. He was about to speak, but Vernon beat him to it.

“Wonwoo! Can you do me a huge favor? Please, please, please, pretty, pretty please!” 

“Depends.” Wonwoo teased even though he knew he’d do anything for the boy Vernon was like a little brother to him.

“Actually no. No ‘depends,’ you owe me for yesterday.  _ You,  _ mister _ , _ were supposed to show Mingyu around, not me.”

_ Mingyu? So that's his name.  _ Wonwoo thinks, then a smile appears on his face.

“Okay, what’s the favor?” Wonwoo said a bit too excitedly.

“Well, he pretty much has the same schedule as you, except for third-period. He has studio art that period, but math, literature, culinary and history he has with you. So, in other words, I need you to look after him. You know… help him get with the flow.” Vernon said as he did wave motions with his hands. 

“Did you really just say that? ‘Get with the flow...’ you’re embarrassing.”

“Yes I did, so what?”

“Wow, I can’t believe we’re fri—”

“Can you both shut up? I’m trying to pass this level. And. Your. Talking. Isn’t. Helping.” Jihoon says, phone in hands, concentrating on the game he is playing.

“I’ll help him,” Wonwoo said, “... you were with him all day yesterday?”

“Yes, I was,” Vernon replied.

“Did he mention a phone or finding one when he was in the restroom yesterday?”

“No he didn’t mention anythi—wait how did you know he was in the restroom?”

“I-I went yesterday and he ran into me, quite literally. I think I dropped my phone when I fell.”

“Well, you can ask him today when you go to class.”

That was exactly what Wonwoo was going to do, talk to Mingyu. Wonwoo would ask Mingyu about the phone and apologize for standing him up when he was supposed to give him a tour of Pledis. When he walked into class Mingyu was not there yet. Wonwoo decided to wait for Mingyu and save him a seat. Students were flooding in and seats were quickly being taken. Wonwoo quickly went and told Mr. Park, their teacher, about Mingyu and said he’d save a seat for him. Wonwoo then claimed a seat for himself and one for Mingyu, right next to him. When he saw Mingyu walk in, Wonwoo immediately smiled. He had never felt that  _ weird _ . Ever since he saw Mingyu, he felt something, but he didn't know what it was. He thought it had to do with the fact that Mingyu was new. Wonwoo had grown up with everyone in his grade, he had known them all his life, he felt no excitement when he saw them. So cue in Mingyu, the tall new “ _ cute  _ guy” who sparked new feelings in Wonwoo and who brought a welcomed freshness to Pledis High. To Wonwoo he was more than just the “new kid,” he was Mingyu, a sweet, kind, clumsy, and cute guy who had Wonwoo doused with curiosity. 

Mingyu had not seen Wonwoo yet. He went straight to Mr. Park and asked him where he could sit down. Mingyu followed his teacher’s hand. He froze when he saw it was pointed to the guy from the day before. Wonwoo waved and gave him a smile, but his smile quickly faded when he saw the scowl on Mingyu’s face, which was directed towards him. Mingyu hesitantly walked towards Wonwoo and was reluctant, but took the seat next to him. Wonwoo tried talking to Mingyu, but Mingyu wouldn’t respond.

“Hi, Mingyu,” 

No response.  _ How does he know my name?  _ Mingyu questioned.

As if he had read his mind, Wonwoo said “I—um, Vernon told me about you, he asked if I could help you out today, so if you need anything I’m here for you,”

No response.

“About yesterday, I would like to apologize–”

“Okay… I class please turn to page 12, we will be taking notes today and then you will have an assignment that will be due tomorrow.” Mr. Park said, interrupting Wonwoo. 

… 

When class ended Mingyu got up and headed to the door, he just wanted to get away from “bathroom guy.“  _ I hope I don’t have to see him anymore.  _ Mingyu thought to himself.

When he arrived at his next class and didn’t see “bathroom guy,” he was very happy. His happiness lasted for a solid ten seconds because the next thing he knows, “bathroom guy” is walking towards him. 

Wonwoo had no idea why Mingyu wasn’t talking to him. At first, he thought he was shy, but that was ruled out when he saw how easily he talked to the teachers and some of the students that welcomed him, he would even smile. 

“Hi,” Wonwoo said for the second time facing Mingyu. “I’ve been rude,”  _ You think?  _ Mingyu thinks. “I’m sorry, I haven’t properly introduced myself, I’m Wonwoo.”

_ That’s it? That’s what you’re apologizing for?  _ Mingyu looked Wonwoo in the eyes “And I don’t care.” He said bitterly.

“What?” Wonwoo said, confused at what Mingyu said. Mingyu couldn’t help but coo mentally at how adorable Wonwoo looked when confused. His eyes, his expression, and those glasses—lo and behold those glasses. They made Wonwoo incredibly adorable, Mingyu could just melt at the sight.  _ Keep it together Mingyu, he’s not cute, he isn’t.  _ Mingyu tried to assure himself.

“I said I. Don’t. Care. Do you need me to spell it out for you?... Listen, I don’t want to know who you are and I don’t need you to help me with anything.” Mingyu sighed “Just stop it, stop talking to me, stop pretending that you care, stop faking.”

Mingyu walked away, he found a seat away from Won-whatever or “bathroom guy” (which honestly, he liked better) and just left him there. Wonwoo was speechless, before taking a seat he wondered,  _ what just happened? _

… 

Wonwoo and Jihoon have a free third period, which means they don’t have a class. They decided to spend it together. They meet in the game room, which is only available for the upperclassmen because it’s located in their building. While they were playing a game, Jihoon noticed something was off with Wonwoo, he kept losing, Wonwoo never lost so whatever it was, it was an emergency. 

“Won, what’s wrong? You keep losing, you’re worrying me. Did Jae do or say something to you because I swear I’ll beat the sh—”

“No, it’s not him, so don't beat the shit out of him.”

“Then why are you sad?” 

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo said. 

“Who’s Mingyu? And what did he do to you?!”

“He’s the new guy, and he didn’t do anything, he just doesn’t like me.”

Jihoon took a moment to think and didn’t say anything.

After what seemed like an eternity he finally spoke up. “Why do you care? You just met the guy— wait, do you _like_ _him,_ _like_ _him_? If you do, then wow, that was fast.” 

“No! I don’t like him, I mean I do—wait no, but not like  _ that.  _ I like him as a friend, yeah I just want to be his friend, that’s it.” Wonwoo quickly said. ”I don’t know what’s going on, yesterday he was so nice and today he wouldn’t even talk to me. And when he did he told me to stop talking to him.”

“Maybe he’s having a bad day, you know, being the new kid and whatnot.”

“I don’t think so. He hates me, he was nice to everyone but me! Maybe he blames me for the restroom incident and that’s why he’s mad.”

  
  


“I don’t know dude, just don’t worry about it. Ask him about it, we have a class with him after lunch. That’s your chance to clear things up.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that, but… right now I’m going to beat you, move over!”

… 

Third period. Mingyu’s favorite. Studio art. So far he had had two consecutive classes with Won-whatever, so he was very happy when his art class had officially started and Won-whatever was nowhere to be seen. 

”Good morning class, today you will continue working on your ’Who Am I’ painting.” When the teacher, Mr. Min finished his sentence students rushed to the back of the broom to get their supplies. ”Whoa whoa, hold on guys we have a new student to introduce and I forgot the brushes in the teacher lounge, I sent Jae to get them so let's wait for him.” 

The class waited for a solid ten minutes before Jae or whoever (Mingyu wasn't really listening) got back. Every head turned to the door when it opened nobody caring for the person who had walked in, nobody but Mingyu. Just when he thought he wouldn’t have to see him again, Won-whatever or Jae or whatever his name is, walked in.  _ Great.  _ Mingyu thought.

”Sorry for taking long Mr. Min, the door to the lounge was locked so I had to look for the janitor.” Wonjae stated. 

”That's alright, Jae, don't worry about it.”

Mingyu watched as his worst nightmare made his way to the back of the classroom to set the brushes down. Although he didn’t care, like, at all, Mingyu found it strange that Won-whatever hadn’t approached him, or tried to speak to him,... not that he cared. While following Wonjae’s every movement, Mingyu was called up to introduce himself to the class. Mingyu said the typical, “Hi my name is” and, “I hope we can all be friends,” then went back to his easel and canvas.

The class went on pretty smoothly. It was very quiet for the most part since everyone was so focused on their project. Mingyu, however, was curious as to why Won-whatever had not tried to talk to him again. He didn’t seem like he’d give up, so _ why now _ ? Was Mingyu’s question. When class ended, every student ran out the door. It was time for lunchtime. Won-whatever was an exception, he didn’t run out, he stayed behind to clean up. Mingyu just watched.

“Stop staring at me, it’s creepy.” Wonjae said.

‘I-I wasn’t.”

“Yes you were, what are you still doing here?” Wonjae asked.

Remember when Mingyu told himself he didn’t care? Well, he lied. 

“Why are you being like this? I have done nothing to you, you’re so weird. When I first met you-you were so nice and then BAM! You completely change. You seem like a whole different person. This morning you did nothing but apologize, but now you just ignore me, what is going on!?” Mingyu says, running out of breath. Mingyu looked at the guy, how could he be so cute yet so mean. At that moment especially, Won-whatever looked more intimidating. His expression hardened and the fact that his cute glasses were gone didn’t help make him less intimidating.

“Mingo right?”

“Mingyu. My name is  _ Mingyu.” _

“Yeah, whatever. Listen, nothing is going on. When I first met you in the restroom I thought you were okay, decent even, but then I thought about it and decided that you’re not… you’re weird. Just now you were basically stalking me.“ Wonjae said. He was having too much fun messing with Mingyu.

Mingyu was furious, he couldn't believe the guy.

”Guys is everything okay? Why are you still here?” Mr. Min asked when he came back to his classroom with his lunch. 

”Yes, everything is fine Mr. Min, I was just showing Mingyu all the supplies we have. We're done. We'll go get lunch now. ” Wonjae said.

”Well, how nice of you, but of course I couldn't expect less of our top art student,—“ 

_ Yeah so “nice.”  _ Mingyu thought. 

Mr. Min then turned to Mingyu. “He’s the best art student we have, I’m sad this is his last year here; he’s truly one of the best. If you want to learn a thing or two stick with him.” Mr. Min said, pridefully. 

Mingyu just gave a nod as a reply (he didn’t mean it). Wonjae thanked Mr. Min for his kind words then left the classroom with Mingyu close behind. 

“Stop…please. While I’m asking nicely.” Mingyu said.

“Stop what? ” Wonjae said as he slowly turned around with an innocent smile on his face. 

_ The audacity.  _ Thought Mingyu. “You act nice around me only when there are teachers, but when we’re alone you show your true self. I don’t know why you’re being like this or what I even did to you. But this little game you’re playing, I don’t like it and I want nothing to do with it. Find another person to bother or I won’t hold back like I have so far.” 

“Wow, so scary,” Wonjae said teasingly, which infuriated Mingyu further. “Stop getting so angry, it doesn’t look good on you.” Wonjae said with a wink.

After his response, Wonjae turned around and walked away with a triumphant smile on his face.

Mingyu wanted to go after him, to tell him off or to simply beat him up, but he decided against it. Mingyu chose to be the better person and went to look for Vernon since he agreed to have lunch with him and his friends.

… 

Mingyu spent lunch all by himself, he didn’t find Vernon and when he called him he didn’t pick up. After a few calls, Mingyu gave up.

Aside from art, Mingyu’s other favorite pastime was cooking. He loved it and was also amazing at it. When he walked into his culinary class he was beyond amazed. The classroom was huge, the cooking stations were incredible, like the ones you see on cooking shows on TV. Mingyu was too busy admiring the kitchen in the classroom that he didn’t notice when Wonwoo and Jihoon walked in. 

As he was lost in the grandeur of the class he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Mr. Seo, his culinary teacher, who tapped Mingyu’s shoulder. 

“Hi, you are Mingyu right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great. I’m Mr. Seo, I’m your culinary teacher. I’ve been emailing your culinary teacher from your previous school and she has said nothing but great things about you. She told me wonders about your culinary skills, that’s why you’re in this class, only the best culinary students of Pledis are here.— Your station won’t be ready until tomorrow so today you’ll share with Wonwoo, he’s a great student. Your station will be behind his when it’s ready. Principal Choi told me Wonwoo would help you out so you can settle in faster. Now, do you have any questions?”

“Yes, um… this Wonwoo guy is about this tall,” Mingyu said, as he used his own height to compare, “Does he have dark hair, round glasses and—”

“Yes, he does,” Wonwoo replied instead. “And he's also me.”

Mingyu turned around and glared at Wonwoo. Their actions led to a staring contest, in which both were determined to win. They broke apart when Mr. Seo spoke again telling them to go to their station. Once at their shared station Mingyu completely ignored the latter, he didn’t want to fight anymore. Mingyu was looking around the station, admiring the utensils and appliances—he felt like a kid in a candy store. Mingyu was still looking around the classroom when he noticed a short guy was waking up toward him.

“Hi, I’m Jihoon, Lee Jihoon, nice to meet you.” He said as he extended his hand towards Mingyu. “Hi there, I’m Kim Mingyu, nice to meet you as well.” Mingyu said as he shook Jihoon’s hand.

“I’ve been taking culinary classes for four years now, it’s an amazing class so I hope you enjoy it.” He directed his gaze towards Wonwoo and added: “I hope everything goes well for you.”

“Thank you, you’re very kind. I'm sure I’ll enjoy the class.” Mingyu replied. With that, Jihoon nodded, gave Mingyu a smile, and went back to his station.

Every attempt Wonwoo made to talk to him, Mingyu ignored. All of fourth period was spent with awkward tension between the two. Jihoon noticed the sad look on Wonwoo’s face, he knew he wasn’t used to being treated so coldly. Most people tend to like him. That, however, wasn’t the case with his twin, most people were afraid to talk to Wonjae because of his cold persona. Fifth period, which was their last class, was the same. Neither Wonwoo nor Mingyu spoke to one another. Soonyoung noticed the tension between them but didn’t comment on it.

When their last class ended Wonwoo told Soonyoung that he could leave without him because he was staying to talk to their teacher. But Wonwoo didn’t plan on talking to his teacher, he was going to confront Mingyu. Mingyu was still in class talking to the teacher about the assignment he had missed the day before. Wonwoo waited outside the door, and when Mingyu came out he grabbed his arm and dragged him into the empty restroom where they had met.

“What do you want!?” Mingyu says. 

“I want to know why you’ve been treating me like I don’t exist. Why are you so rude to me!?” Wonwoo said back.

“ _ I’m rude _ ?” Mingyu laughed “That’s rich coming from you. I thought  _ you _ were nice, but you’re not. Like I said, you only act nice when we’re not alone. I don’t know why you’re playing the victim right now if you’re just messing with me because I’m new, don’t. Once again, like I said this morning, I don’t want to be part of your little game. Just leave me alone.”

“What do you mean earlier? We’ve barely talked, you didn’t say anything to me. You only told me to stop faking, that’s it.” 

“Stop acting! It’s infuriating!  _ We _ , you and I, talked today. Let me refresh your memory,” Mingyu went up to Wonwoo pushing him against the wall, his arm on either side, encasing Wonwoo. Wonwoo’s heart was beating so fast—their faces were only inches apart. Wonwoo was more nervous than he was scared. “I confronted you after studio art. I had a feeling I was going to be stuck with you all day. And I was right, we share every class with each other. I told you that I don’t want to be part of your game or prank or whatever it is you do with new students. But apparently, you have selective hearing because—no wait, short term memory or both because you can’t seem to leave me alone. I don’t want this to get physical, this is your last warning, I don’t care about the consequences.”

Wonwoo was left speechless. All he could think about was one person.  _ Wonjae.  _

“You’re not going to say anything? Cat got your tongue huh?” Mingyu said anger spilled out with his words. 

“I-I don’t have studio art, I don't have a third-period class, you didn’t talk to me.”

“What are you trying to say? That I’m crazy and imagined everything or that you have a clone or something?” 

“No! You’re not crazy, at least I don’t think you are. I'm sure you're fine and that you have no mental health problems, you look pretty healthy so—” When nervous, Wonwoo becomes an incoherent mess, especially when he speaks.”

“Get to the point, I don’t have all day.”

“What I want to say is that you didn't talk to me,” Mingyu looked at him confused. Mingyu unencased Wonwoo, stood up straight, crossed his arms and said, “Explain.” 

“I don't have a clone, well not exactly, I um...I have a twin,” Mingyu laughs, “Why-why are you laughing! I’m serious, I have a twin. His name is Jae, well Wonjae and I’m Wonwoo. He’s the one you have studio art with, not me. I’m sorry if he’s been rude to you, he’s like that to everyone, not that that’s an excuse.” Mingyu stopped laughing then took time to catch his breath.

“You expect me to believe that? Wow, you're a great actor, you could have an amazing career as one. _You_ are just messing with me. A twin, _really_? Out of all the excuses you could have thought of, you come up with that… from all the teachers I’ve only heard about how smart you are, but they’re wrong.”

“I’m not lying. I. Have. A. Twin!”

“Okay, sure, you have a twin.” Mingyu played along, that’s what he truly thought, but Wonwoo was telling the truth.

“Yes.” Wonwoo stated matter-of-factly. 

“Really?” Mingyu asked once more as he approached Wonwoo, cornering him against the wall again.

“Y-yes really, I-I have a twin,” Mingyu moved closer. “I-I um-I do.” Wonwoo stuttered out.

“I-I um-I don’t believe you.” Mingyu mimicked Wonwoo’s flustered tone. He moved away from Wonwoo, opened the door then slammed it shut and left.

  
  



	7. Bathroom Guy.

"He did what now!? Are you serious?, I'm gonna beat him up." Jihoon said after Wonwoo told them what happened with Mingyu after school. 

"I'll help." Soonyoung and Vernon both said at the same time.

"As much as I dislike my brother right now I don't want you guys to beat him up, at least not… yet? I'm going to talk to him first when I get home." Wonwoo says.

The four best friends were currently at Vernon's house. Every so often they hung out after school in one of their houses, today it was Vernon's.

"I feel really bad, " Vernon started, "Mingyu called me five times today and texted to ask if I was still on for lunch. I didn't answer him." He sighed sadly.

"Why didn't you answer him? Poor Mingyu, he probably spent lunch all by himself! How could you Vernon!"

"Won, chill I'm sure he was fine. I didn't answer because I left my phone here. I'll call him right now though to apologize."

... 

Mingyu was currently in his room working on the assignments he got, which were a hefty amount. He was interrupted, however, when he heard his phone ringing.

— 

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mingyu buddy, it's Vernon."

"Oh, hey Vernon! What's up?" 

"Nothing much, just chillin with some friends. I'm calling because I want to say sorry for not answer your calls or messages. I forgot my phone at home, sorry about lunch."

"It's all good, don't worry. Thanks for letting me know."

"How about lunch tomorrow, for sure this time. I want to introduce to my friends, Ji—" 

"Don't say my name! He won't accept." Wonwoo whispered to Vernon.

"Ji—just let me know." Vernon finished.

"Yeah, I'd love to, I’d like to make new friends."

"Alright then, I'll go over to your building tomorrow and we'll meet my friends at Hangout. See ya tomorrow dude, bye"

"Bye." Mingyu replied before ending the call.

— 

"Thank you for not saying my name. I want to talk to him with you guys around so you can help me convince him about Jae."

"We understand you dude," Soonyoung said while Jihoon and Vernon nodded in response. "But are you really going to talk to Jae?" Soonyoung added.

"Yes, tonight after he gets back from the gallery." Wonwoo said.

"Are you going to tell your parents?" Jihoon asked.

"I know I should, but I can't do that to Jae, there's nothing more he hates, besides me, than disappointing our parents. They have this perfect and pristine image of him."

" _ You _ can't ruin  _ his _ image, but he gets to ruin yours? You're too nice to him Won. He doesn't deserve you." Jihoon said, looking away from Wonwoo, shaking his head, completely annoyed at what Wonwoo had said.

Wonwoo fell silent, they all went silent. Whenever they talked about Wonwoo's relationship with Wonjae, the aftermath was always a prominent silence. Vernon hates whenever there is tension between them. Vernon broke the silence by challenging his older bros, as he calls them, to Mario Kart. His cheerfulness seemed to lighten the mood because five minutes later they were all yelling at each other over banana peels being thrown.

"Are you serious Ji?! You said you'd throw the banana peel at Soon, not me!" Vernon said. 

"Well, I guess I lied." Jihoon replied.

They played for what seemed like forever. Vernon always came in fourth place because the others would conspire against him. Banana peels, squid ink, turtle shells, every object the game had to offer, Wonwoo, Soonyoung and Jihoon, would send it Vernon's way. Vernon sulked, but he couldn’t stay mad at them, they knew that, that's why they loved messing with their youngest friend. 

... 

Wonwoo was now back in his house. He got home a bit later than he usually does. He and the guys played video games longer than normal. He quickly told his parents he was back and that he had eaten dinner at Vernon's house. He then went up to see his brother. He was standing outside of Wonjae's room, mustering the courage to knock. And when he did, he finally knocked.

He heard a quiet "come in," and so he went in.

Wonjae looked towards the door. "What do you want Loser?"

"Why have you been pretending that you're me to Mingyu? And why have you been so rude to him, he's new, you should be more considerate towards him, he has no one,—" Wonwoo was now trying to catch his breath. Wonjae was about to speak, but Wonwoo beat him to it. "Because of you, he hates me! No, you, he hates you, but he thinks you're me or that I'm you or ugh! I don't know. Can you-can you please just tell him the truth?"

Wonjae laughed,  _ he laughed _ , Wonwoo hadn't heard him laugh since they were kids. "Took you long enough. I was wondering how much longer I could keep it going without you finding out. I'll stop. It was getting boring anyway." Wonjae lied about the last part, he was actually having fun. Mingyu was fun to tease. 

"Okay thanks, but please, Jae, actually talk to him—tell him about us and apologize. I tried apologizing, but he wouldn't hear it and when I told him that I have a twin he didn't believe me."

"I'll see what I can do, but why do you care so much? You just met him, you owe him no explanations." Wonjae said.

"I know we just met, but I wouldn't care this much if it wasn't for you, you were rude Jae. Why did you do this? And how did you two even meet?"

"Calm down, it's not the end of the world. And to answer your questions, I was in a bad mood, this stupid girl spilled her coffee all over me, and when ai saw him he was too happy. I didn't like that because I wasn't happy. Also I met him in the restroom, shortly after you I assume because he thought I was you."

"Those are not excuses for treating someone like that, Jae. You should've seen how he looked when he talked to me, he literally wanted to kill me, what did you say to him?" Wonwoo was curious.

"Stuff," Wonjae responded. "Just stuff, don't worry about it."

"Tell me!"

"If you want to know so badly then ask him, I don't feel like repeating myself. By the way, he's the one who has your phone, but you'll probably have a hard time getting it back..." 

"Wait—how do you know he has my phone?"

"He told me about a phone he found then showed me it. I recognized it because of the weird stickers you have on your case, which are horrendous by the way. Who puts artoon animals on their phone case, what are you, five?—anyway I told him it wasn't mine."

"Why did you say that!? You should have taken it and given it to me," Wonwoo said in disbelief. "Animal stickers are cool." He added. 

"Yeah if you're five—and what? It's not like I lied to him, that phone is yours not mine, you lost it so it's your job to get it back." Wonjae then walked into his restroom. "You better be gone when I'm out. Leave before I get in a bad mood."

With that Wonwoo left his brother's room.  _ How can we look exactly the same, but be so different?  _ The question invaded Wonwoo thoughts every day, he couldn't believe it, alike yet so different, hot and cold, sweet and sour, light and dark. 

...

It was now Friday and Mingyu was still not only ignoring Wonwoo, but Vernon, Jihoon, and Soonyoung as well. When the five guys met for lunch, Mingyu was angered to learn that Vernon was friends with Bathroom Guy. He decided to ignore anything that had to do with the guy, even his name, which was a great decision since it seemed to annoy Bathroom Guy. When Wonwoo brought up the twin topic again, Mingyu still didn't believe. Not even when Vernon, Jihoon and Soonyoung backed up his story. He said to them that he knew they were just messing with him because he's the new guy and he was an easy target. Mingyu told Vernon and all his friends, mainly Bathroom Guy to stay away from him. 

... 

"Won are you sure Jae talked to him? Maybe he's still messing with Mingyu." Jihoon asked.

"I told him to set things straight, but I'll talk to him again during lunch." Wonwoo replied with worry evident in his voice.

Wonwoo confronted Wonjae again, but Wonjae said he had talked to Mingyu about them being twins but Mingyu still didn't believe him. It didn't help that the twins were never actually together during school, so Mingyu never got to see them side by side throughout the day. He still thought he was being messed with.

"I went up to the guy and told him about me having a twin and he didn't believe me. He said, and I quote 'Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not falling for that, I already told you that I don't believe you.'” Wonwoo said, imitating Mingyu's voice. Won, I think he's actually stupid because he could ask literally anybody in this school and anyone would confirm it. Even the squirrels on campus know about Jae and me. If the squirrels could talk back, they'd tell him too."

"Can you come after school to Mr. Nam's class? Mingyu and I have that class together. I'll keep him there after class and then when you show up, he'll see us together and finally believe me. And I'll also get my phone back." Wonwoo says. He then sighs nostalgically at the memory of his phone, "I'm surprised I've survived so long without it."

"Why can't we go right now? I already ate lunch so I can spare some time now. I don't want to stay in school longer than I have to." Wonjae reasoned. 

"I would much rather do it now, but I have no idea where he goes during lunch! Do you? You have third period with him, did you see where he went?" Wonwoo asked.

"He ran out of class as soon as it ended, most likely to avoid me. I have no idea where he could be, this school is huge." Wonjae saw the sad look on Wonwoo's face, which almost compelled him to say sorry for causing him trouble,  _ almost _ —he couldn't break his apathetic persona. "Fine, I'll meet you at Mr. Nam's class, I'm gonna go now I've been with you longer than I'd like to. I've also been too nice, I don't like that."

"Okay—but please show up."

Wonjae nodded in response and they both went their separate ways like they always did. 

... 

Much like the previous days, Mingyu managed to ignore Wonwoo. Wonwoo would talk, but Mingyu would not, he wouldn't even give him any reaction, not even a grimace, just a blank stare. When Wonwoo said, "I know you still have my phone, can you please give it back?” All Mingyu gave Wonwoo was a smirk—after that, he went back to ignoring Wonwoo and to his blank expression. They were once again, back to silence.

When class was over Wonwoo cornered Mingyu at his desk and wouldn't let him leave. Mingyu was annoyed, he wanted to get away from Bathroom Guy and go home. They stared deeply at each other until Mingyu gave up and broke the silence.

"I'm not in the mood to fight, what do you want, Bathroom Guy?" Mingyu said.

"Stop calling me 'Bathroom Guy.’ I don't like it. I have a name and you know it." Wonwoo said harsher than he wanted to.

"I like Bathroom Guy, it suits you better," Mingyu replied. "What do you want? This is the last time I ask."

"I want to prove to you that I do have a twin… and I want my phone back." 

"Not gonna happen Bathroom Guy, 1. you don't have a twin and 2., I told you that you won’t get it back until you apologize properly."

"Mingyu, I swear I have a twin, he's on his way right now—he's gonna explain and apologize for everything. Please, I'm telling the truth, please believe me." Wonwoo pleaded.

Mingyu couldn't take his eyes off of Wonwoo's, he could feel the sincerity radiating from him,  _ maybe he really is telling the truth _ . "Fine, I'll give you a chance, but if you're messing with me again I want you to stop talking to me for good, unless it involves school, got it?"

"Got it." Wonwoo replied with a cheerful glint in his eyes, Mingyu once again thought he looked adorable.

So there stood Mingyu and Wonwoo, alone in their history class waiting for Wonjae. Wonaje was taking longer than he should and Wonwoo was getting worried and Mingyu was getting impatient. 

"He'll be here, I promise." _ I really hope so. _ Wonwoo thinks.

Mingyu was about to call it off and say he couldn't wait anymore when suddenly they hear footsteps approaching the door.

"There he is!" Wonwoo said.

"You really have a twin?" Mingyu asked, still a bit skeptical but, nevertheless, intrigued.

"Yes! I told you I wasn't lying and he wasn't either when he talked to you."

The doorknob turned and a familiar figure walked in, but it wasn't Wonjae, it was Jun. He ran up to Wonwoo and gave him the car keys Wonjae was supposed to have. "Why do you have these? Wonwoo asked.

"Jae told me to give them to you so you could get home," Jun's eyes wondered to Mingyu, he got closer to Wonwoo and whispered "I don't think he'd want a stranger to know, that's why I'm whispering, but Principal Choi told me to let you know that his migraines came back. Your mom picked him up and took him to the doctor." Wonwoo nodded understandingly and Jun left.

Wonwoo turned to Mingyu, "He couldn't make it."

"I can't believe I'm so stupid. For a second I genuinely believed you. Stay away from me, all of you. You, Vernon, Soonyoung, Jihoon, even that guy who just left. I'm not a toy and before you ask, no,  _ you are _ not getting your phone back, I still want that apology for all the things you said, just-just not right now." Mingyu said and once again, like many times before, walked out.

Wonwoo got in his car and sat there for about fifteen minutes wondering why he cared so much about what Mingyu thought and why his words hurt so much. He had known the guy for no more than five days and Mingyu had already caused more trouble than he's had in his eighteen years of life. After starting the car, he didn't go home, instead he called the guys and they decided to meet up at Jihoon's house. He'd pour out all his feelings to them and eat some, if not all, of Jihoon's mom's homemade cookies. Mrs. Lee always baked cookies when they went over. She baked the best lemon cookies Wonwoo's ever had. Wonwoo was hoping his friends and cookies would cheer him up—hopefully enough for him to get his mind off of Kim Mingyu for the weekend.

  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
